Good Afternoon!

I spent a few hours at two of my favourite locations during our fifth heatwave of the summer, and not without rewards.

Grisedale Brook. 

Stonechat (honestly) Pete Woodruff.

Too far off for much detail in my image above, this one was the third Stonechat on the gatepost by the newly installed bridge over the brook. 

An excellent start to my afternoon, was a pair of Stonechat to welcome me as I got out of the motor at Grisedale Bridge.  Also seen, 6 Goldfinch were atop of the gorse bushes, a Willow Warbler and Meadow Pipit were the only other birds.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly male. Pete Woodruff.

I managed to find 5 Golden-ringed Dragonfly, an obliging species away from water, were they can often be found settled and posing for photographs.

A pair of Common Darter in tandem, seen egg laying on Grisedale Brook as it entered Holme Wood, 2 Common Darter male were also seen. As I moved to leave the area, a Brown Hawker flew by me.

Hawthornthwaite Fell.

I called at Catshaw Pond on my way, to find a lone Emperor Dragonfly. Void of a search in my records, I think this is the fourth year I found one present here in Bowland. 

In Lancashire today, the Emperor Dragonfly is recorded as established in the Fylde, and in parts of central and east Lancashire, Heysham and Silverdale. I can find the Emperor Dragonfly at all sections of the Lancaster Canal that I visit, but historically it was regarded as absent in the uplands of north Lancashire. Until recently it was noted on the record website as a species outside the known area, a comment that has now been removed.

Hawthornthwaite Fell. Pete Woodruff.

I have a passion for Hawthornthwaite, born from the fact that it's as good for the Stonechat as anywhere else in Bowland, though I did only find a pair here today, but that brought the total to five Stonechat on the day, almost certainly 3 breeding pairs. 

A Golden-ringed Dragonfly flew by me heading towards Catshaw Grieve, which I found to have a steady flow considering the lack of rain this summer.

The only other bird was a Buzzard soaring overhead, but I did hear the single 'screech' call of a hidden Snipe, with every sheep close by, frozen and staring at the area. Butterflies seen were, 5 Painted Lady, a Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell. Thereby ending....A Good Afternoon.

Garden Goodies.

The heat has played its part in having our garden having a good spell of summer insects.

We had our fifth Hummingbird Hawk Moth visit this week and in the past month up to 120 Large/Small White butterflies have visited, also an impressive c.60 Holly Blue have come through the garden over a similar period. My header is one of this number.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

On Thursday, a female Common Darter put in an appearance, it kept disappearing, then returned to the same perch a few times for several minutes. An excellent record which was preceded by a male Common Darter a few days earlier. 

Pool, Canal, And Stonking Moth.

Aqueduct Pool.

Aqueduct Bridge. Copyright Johnathon Price.

As it was located below the Aqueduct Bridge, it seemed appropriate that I decided to christen the small body of water Aqueduct Pool. It was here that I observed my first Emerald Damselfly on 10 August 2023.

Aqueduct Pool 23 July. Pete Woodruff.

It's no surprise to find no Emerald Damselflies, the pool doesn't look to have had any recent management, and the fact that a huge fast food chain has an outlet a few hundred metres away up the path, this results with the site becoming one of 'human remains' not wildlife. Add this to the fact that the Emerald Damselfly is a strictly still water species, favouring shallow water with extensive emergent and marginal vegetation, it being shy to fly over open water.

I count myself lucky to have had the one encounter with the Emerald Damselfly in August 2023. Also on previous visits, I have recorded Southern Hawker and Brown Hawker, both species egg laying, and Four-spotted Chaser....I don't think the Emerald Damselfly or any of this  will ever happen here again!

Emerald Damselfly. Pete Woodruff.

When I visited Aqueduct Pool on Thursday there was little sign of anything here, though I noted 4 Common Blue Damselfly and 2 Common Darter male.

Dragonfly Exuvia. Pete Woodruff.

Being a novice in the world of odonata, I did manage to find my first exuvia, it was at the back of the pool, so difficult to get a half decent image. I doubt anyone could answer the question 'what's this then'. 

Lancaster Canal.

From here I walked the canal towpath back to Lancaster, being a little disappointed with the resulting 13 dragon sightings, 8 Brown Hawker, 3 Emperor Dragonfly, including a female egg laying, a Common Blue Damselfly and Common Darter both males. Butterflies were a mix of 18 Large/Small White, 6 Speckled Wood, a Comma and Red Admiral.

These records compare poorly with those on my last walk along this 2 mile stretch of the Lancaster Canal in August 2024 when I notched up 48 individuals, 23 Emperor Dragonfly, 12 Brown Hawker, 8 Common Darter, and 5 Common Blue Damselfly.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth. Martin Jump.

The Hummingbird Hawk Moth is a daytime flying moth, and a migrant species from Southern Europe and North Africa, it is occasionally seen in good number, especially during long hot spells like the one we have experienced over the past weeks.

* I found 58 records of Hummingbird Hawk Moth in West Lancashire this year March 5 - June 22.

Martin Jump.

As far as the photographic evidence he has achieved, my take on Martin Jump's recent encounter with a Hummingbird Hawk-moth, is that he's the luckiest person in Lancashire, if not in Britain.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth Egg Laying. Martin Jump.

I reckon Martin Jump was a step ahead of everyone in the County of Lancashire and beyond with this one, not only did he find the moth, but he managed to see it egg laying, and not only egg laying, but captured it on camera. Taking a closer look, there are three eggs in the image....I mean c'mon!

I was lucky to find a Hummingbird Hawk Moth on 2 September 2025, it put on a good show for me while I got some footage as it collected nectar with its long proboscis from the Wild Sweet William in the garden. 

News From The Bog!

Excellent news from Birk Bank from a trusted and reliable source, is that the current record stands at a spectacular 22 Keeled Skimmer as at Tuesday 14 July.

Keeled Skimmer Birk Bank 16 July. Pete Woodruff.

On Thursday, I spent an enjoyable and rewarding 2 hours at Birk Bank, but based on the chances of my equalling the current record let alone beating it, I did find at least 14 Keeled Skimmer in the first 5 minutes there. Quite surprisingly all were male, though by the end of the session I had seen two females egg laying.

The next best thing, was the 2 Golden-ringed Dragonfly sightings, neither of which had stopped off for photographs!

Four-spotted Chaser Birk Bank 16 July. Pete Woodruff.

Four-spotted Chaser seen, this one an immature with wing spots not very apparent, and were mostly on the wing, and all were immediately seen off by the male Keeled Skimmers.

I hadn't noticed the insect at the time, only when I came to process the footage did I see it face to face with the chaser, and I wondered if it had escaped with its life, but I reckon it was living dangerously.

Being a novice in the game, I can only assume this female dragonfly is egg laying, you can see its abdomen under the leaf on the bog, in which case it is making heavy weather of the exercise.

I have no idea of the fate of this unidentified dragonfly. The behaviour added to the bleached appearance which is probably caused by the stark sunlight....All things considered, something of a mystery. 

Azure Damselfly Birk Bank 16 July. Pete Woodruff.

Three Azure Damselfly seen, and something of a surprise was a Blue-tailed Damselfly, it not being a common sight around acidic waters, I don't recall ever seeing one at Birk Bank before. It was good to see the Emperor Dragonfly again this year if only on a brief fly by.

Birds & Butterflies.

It was an icing on the cake moment when I found a pair of Stonechat as I came away from the bog, the male was seen with a grub in its bill....obvious breeders for me. Vocal interaction by a pair of Willow Warbler, and a Buzzard overhead.

Butterflies were a little thin, but one or two escaped ID as they whizzed by....no good for a learner like me! Three Ringlet, 2 Red Admiral and a Meadow Brown.  

The Show Goes On.

After an unplanned leave of absence from birding for 13 days, it was good to get back out on Monday to catch up with a few things I've been missing recently, but now the show goes on....

On Conder Pool I found 3 Curlew Sandpiper in a mix of 16 Greenshank and a few Redshank, also 10 Little Grebe and 15 Canada Geese, whilst at least 10 Long-tailed Tit passed in procession through the bushes, and a Kestrel hovered overhead for the unsuspecting vole no doubt. But the big surprise was an adult Whooper Swan, although the surprise was lessened when I remembered seeing this bird on the Lune Estuary at Glasson on 9 July.

On my way to Cockersand, I stopped off at Clarkson's Farm to find c.120 Black-headed Gull accompanied by an adult Mediterranean Gull, this bird was marked with a white darvic ring, frustratingly too distant to read, but based on the colour, the best I could come up with, was ringed in the near continent perhaps. Also seen around a small flood in the same field, a Ruff, up to 6 Golden Polver and a similar number of Ringed Polver.

The traditional Cockersand circuit started with a surprise just beyond Bank House Farm, when I counted at least 40 Tree Sparrow. I've not been seeing many Tree Sparrow here the past 2 years, in fact I saw just 2 on 7 April this year, previous to that, I recorded 16 on 16 October 2023. Worth noting the Tree Sparrow is Red Listed, with a BTO report showing a significant decline across the country.

Further into the walk, I found another encouraging sight, that of 100+Linnet. Although the arrival of wintering geese has been noted, it was a bit of a surprise to find just 3 Pink-footed Geese in a field off Slack Lane, from where I heard a Skylark burst briefly into song.

Clouded Yellow Cockersand. Pete Woodruff. 

Butterflies on the day were a pleasing 4 Clouded Yellow, 2 Red Admiral, 2 Speckled Wood, and a Silver Y moth.

Large White Chrysalis. Pete Woodruff.

As I walked along the side of Lighthouse Cottage, I spotted about a dozen chrysalis 'glued' to the whitewashed wall, a bit of searching had me find they were Large White butterfly.

Wheatear 21 September. Pete Woodruff.  

On Sunday, a pleasant walk along Morecambe Promenade at Sandylands, was made all the more pleasant with 3 Wheatear seen along the sea defences.

The Header.

Struggling to find a suitable pik of my own for the header, I remembered Ian's stunning Merveille du Jour, and....Bingo!    

Tuesday 2 Sept - Friday 5 Sept.

Not as much action on Conder Pool as my last visit 28 August, but impressive all the same, and didn't loose any ratings in the Hot Spot League as far as I'm concerned. 

I had been at Conder Pool about an hour, and had got back to the motor to move on, when AC knocked on the windscreen to tell me the Spotted Redshank had flown in and joined the company of 10 Greenshank....Thanks Andrew.

Also to note on the pool, 8 Little Grebe and a lone Black-tailed Godwit. I'm convinced this is the same BTG as seen here in previous years, and always alone. A Common Sandpiper was in the creeks.

Within the space of about 15 minutes, a Marsh Harrier, Peregrine Falcon and Buzzard were overhead, along with a good number of hirundine, high like dots in the sky.

Thirty minutes on the canal towpath at Glasson produced 2 Migrant Hawker and 2 Brown Hawker, and along the coastal path 4 Migrant Hawker, with a 'blue butterfly' seen. This was a disappointing sighting in that it was too distant for ID to species, so I was left with a possible third brood Holly Blue, or second brood Common Blue which can last until early September. Other butterflies seen, Painted Lady, 5 Red Admiral, 5 Speckled Wood, and 3 Small Tortoiseshell.

Migrant Hawker.

Migrant Hawker 2 September. Pete Woodruff.

I find the Migrant Hawker one of the easier dragons to observe, their behaviour is often to be seen hovering frequently, hawking along hedgerows, and regularly basking low down on vegetation as mine was today.

Conder Pool Friday 5 September.

I paid my second visit of the week to Conder Pool where the scenery was much changed and reduced in numbers of birds, though I was delighted to find my highest all time count upgraded by the presence of 32 Greenshank on the pool. The only other records of note were, 10 Little Grebe and a lone Ruff.

Birk Bank Friday 5 September.

My visit the bog at Birk Bank was suitably rewarded by recording 14 dragons in the hour spent here. Pick of the bunch was 2 Emperor Dragonfly which were something of a surprise, though I did find two here last year 19 September 2024....Late! 

Black Darter Birk Bank 5 September. Pete Woodruff.

Also seen, 5 Black Darter were all males, and 7 Common Darter were seen as 5 male/2 female. I had two sightings of Buzzard, both of which were seen as two pairs 10 minutes apart, but to be honest I reckon it was just the one 'mewing' pair seen twice.  

Garden Moth.

Seeing what appeared to be a moth through the kitchen window, I dashed out to find it was the most obliging of its kind, giving good views as it lingered a few minutes nectaring on Soapwort.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth

In the header image, we can see the 'Keep Britain Tidy' man with the strimmer at Saltcote Pond has done the right thing this year, leaving the pond side vegetation to flourish, in which case it seems my conversation last year with Glasson Councilors has paid off. 

Conder Pool & Birk Bank.

Conder Pool 27 August.

Having landed at least two first records this week - four in my book - Conder Pool has earned the recognition of one of Lancashire's birding hot spots. This weeks header for B2B bears testament to that claim with a grand total of 46 Little Egret, seen on Conder Pool early Wednesday morning as an all time best count. On the same day, a Little Stint was on Conder Pool.

Little Stint Conder Pool. Tom Parkinson.

The second of four first records in my book at least, I don't recall a Little Stint on Conder Pool before.

Wednesday was a good day, and 31 Greenshank was certainly an all time best count here, and represents first record No 3....All this and more, whilst I was waiting to get my motor fixed 😝

Conder Pool 28 August.

I put in a couple of hours on Thursday to join Mark, a birder I respect, and who is as keen and dedicated as anyone I know for accuracy of the count. During my stay, Mark probably counted through the species a dozen times to come up with a result of 19 Ruff....Yet another all time best count No 4 for Conder Pool. 

There's a Black-tailed Godwit in the video, it thinks it's a Ruff!

Green Sandpiper Conder Pool 28 August. Pete Woodruff.

Other notes on Conder Pool for the little black book, a Green Sandpiper, was seen in pursuit around the pool of a Common Sandpiper, 420 Redshank were accompanied by 22 Greenshank, 4 Snipe, and 15 Little Grebe.

As soon as I set the camera for a video, the Green Sandpiper shot off and disappeared behind an island.

A Whimbrel was in the creeks and was another first in my book at Conder Green. As with the Little Stint on Conder Pool, I don't recall seeing a Whimbrel in the creeks before.

Birk Bank 25 August.

I connected with just three species of dragonflies today, but observed some interesting behavior. Five Keeled Skimmer were seen as two pairs in tandem and a lone female, all the females were noted to be 'old'. It was interesting that a male never let the female out of its sight, following its every move, and hovering around the female whilst she was egg laying and seeing off any other dragon that approached it.

Five Black Darter were seen as 2 pairs in tandem and a lone male. It was fascinating to watch the pair thrashing quite violently whilst egg laying.

The third species seen were 6 Common Darter, they were all males.

And Finally.

More pictures from my inbox....

  

Small Red-eyed Damselfly. Martin Jump.

Martin continues with his luck to find the Small Red-eyed Damselfly, and to achieve excellent results in his images.

Wasp With Green Bottle Prey. Martin Jump.

It's a one word comment here from me....WOW!

Red Admiral. Ian Mitchell.

Buff Ermine. Ian Mitchell.

Ian progresses with his success of butterflies and moths in flight.

Small Tortoiseshell. Pete Woodruff.

And we continue to get some nice butterflies and bumblebees in the garden.

Red-tailed Bumblebee. Pete Woodruff.

Dragons, Butterflies, Raptors And A Couple Of Caterpillars.

An enjoyable wander on a circuit of Fairfield NR Monday afternoon. A well designed and managed reserve with ponds and scrapes to explore, deserving of congratulations to all involved. 

One of the good points about the reserve, is that most of the ponds and scrapes are inaccessible. Obviously a good point, in that it's designed to keep Joe Blogs from trespassing in the area....Well it kept me away!

Emperor Dragonfly. Pete Woodruff.

Dragonflies.

But the first pond I found was called Alder Pool, appropriately named as there was a lone Alder to the north of it. Viewable over a fence through a gap in the hedge, and where I found an Emperor Dragonfly pair, with the male patrolling the pond, and the female eventually ovipositing.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

Also seen were 6 Common Darter, seen as five male but included a female coming close to settle on a twig for a picture. Leaving the reserve, I walked along a short stretch of the canal to find 3 Brown Hawker including a female ovipositing, also a Blue-tailed Damselfly seen.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

I soon rejoined the reserve at the east end, to find another 4 Brown Hawker and 8 Common Darter, these were all seen basking on the fence line.

Raptors.

As I was leaving the reserve, a Buzzard was overhead being mobbed by a Sparrowhawk, an excellent sighting for size comparison and a soaring Buzzard with the flap-flap-glide flight of the hawk.

Butterflies.

Give the perfect weather conditions today and in the near future, my butterfly records continue to be sparse, with just 4 Speckled Wood, a Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell seen in 3 hours here today.

Caterpillars.

I spotted two on the grit track just a couple of metres apart.

Red Admiral Butterfly. Pete Woodruff.

White Ermine Moth. Pete Woodruff.

Garden Butterflies.

Peacock. Pete Woodruff.

Two stunning Peacock were in our garden yesterday with a Red Admiral....

Comma. Pete Woodruff.

....and the Comma - also stunning - in our garden recently was memorable.

The Wrong Day!

It was the wrong day when I walked the stretch of the canal from Glasson-Galgate in the hope of a dragon or two, cloudy and an unwelcome breeze. After a 3 mile and 3 hour trek, I saw not a single dragonfly, with just two damselflies seen, and one bird of note, it was a walk all about the butterflies. The population of UK butterflies has now reached an 80% decline since the 1970's, but it's not the end of the world yet, and I've had some decent sightings recently regarding them as heartening.

Gatekeeper. Pete Woodruff.

On todays walk I encountered a nice 34 Gatekeeper, 4 Small Tortoiseshell, 4 Meadow Brown, 3 Painted Lady, 3 Red Admiral, and a Peacock. The only two damselflies seen were, a Blue-tailed Damselfly, and Common Blue Damselfly. The only bird of note was a Buzzard over the canal junction at Galgate.

Garden Butterflies.

Comma. Pete Woodruff.

A Comma spent a good 15 minutes nectaring on the Elecampane in our garden and was soon followed by a smart Red Admiral.

Picture Gallery.

I got more excellent finds and images in my inbox again, all best viewed enlarged.

Ruddy Darter. Martin Jump.

Martin has is second Ruddy Darter under his belt this week in Preston.

Buff Ermine. Ian Mitchell.

And with the help of a beautiful Buff Ermine, Ian continues to achieve excellent results of moths in flight.

The Odd Couple. Howard Stockdale.

Howards image shows the result of an Embden Goose which paired with a hybrid GreylagxCanada Goose. Having had a hatched chick out on the marsh this year, perhaps a cursory look might have some thinking Conder Pool now has its own Snow Goose!

And Finally....

Cuckoo Juvenile. Marc Heath.

Marc got an excellent image of a Cuckoo. In congratulating him, I confessed to never having previously recognised the juvenile Cuckoo had such brilliant markings on its tail feathers. 

Med Gull Spectacular.

Mediterranean Gull.

When I arrived at Conder Pool on Wednesday, someone was leaving the viewing platform, a nice man not serious about birding and just passing by I think. I said hello and asked if there were any Mediterranean Gull here, he answered saying he'd not seen any.

Mediterranean Gull Conder Pool 25 June. Pete Woodruff.

To my amazement, the first birds I saw were 7 Mediterranean Gull which were seen as 5 adult and 2x1st summer. It only took a few more minutes for me to pick up a total of 17 Mediterranean Gull, 8 adult, 7x2nd summer, and 2x1st summer birds.

I sensed a male following a female with a little posturing here....

Fourteen Mediterranean Gull in the video below....

I thought I was hallucinating, and I reckon the next birder to visit Conder Pool the following day thought he was too, when he found a total of 29 Mediterranean Gull....I think it'll be a while before this record is beaten! 

Avocet & Common Sandpiper.

It didn't take long for another spectacle to develop, that of a line of 42 Avocet at the back of Conder Pool, and when I panned right of the Avocet, 6 Common Sandpiper were also lined up along the back of the pool.

Common Tern.

Mainly focused on and distracted by the gull fest, I made no count of adult birds, but noted 15 Common Tern chicks on the raft, which included one young bird exercising it's wings.

Dragonflies.

Emperor Dragonfly Saltcote Pond. Pete Woodruff.

On Saltcote Pond, a lone Emperor Dragonfly was patrolling, occasionally egg laying around the edge of the pond, also up to 14 Common Blue Damselfly including some pairing.

Butterflies.

Ringlet. Pete Woodruff.

Nothing spectacular about these, as I saw just one Red Admiral, but 10 Ringlet lifted the gloom, and takes my sightings of this species to 16 Ringlet seen on two days, with six more seen at Birk Bank on 20 June.    

Glasson- Conder Green Circuit.

Reed Bunting, 3 Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, and 6 Sedge Warbler.

And Finally.

Ian Mitchell kindly sent me a couple of images....

This of an Elephant Hawk Moth

And one of a Large Yellow Underwing.

Ian says 'I was playing around trying to photo this moth in flight'....I don't think you need to try much harder Ian.

The Header.

Howard Stockdale does it again, this time with another excellent header image of 42 Avocet, perfectly lined up for a photograph and an accurate count on Conder Pool this week. 

I would like to take this opportunity, to thank all those who joined me - and some who later hindered me - in reporting this amazing record of 17 Mediterranean Gulls, which I found on Conder Pool on Wednesday 25 June.   

Banded Beauties And Others!

On Monday we visited our daughter who lives in an area that includes the beautiful Lune Valley. As an interlude, I decided to use the visit as an opportunity to spend a couple of hours around the River Lune at Bull Beck, a decision which turned out to be quite rewarding.

Coming off the footpath, going down to the track running east and above the riverbank, I soon saw something blue resembling a butterfly in flight and instantly recognisable. Walking on about 50 metres, within a few minutes I had counted at least 16 Banded Demoiselle, and managed to get a couple of shots of a female, but had no success with the males.

But there was never going to be any disappointment here. After all, who could wish for more, when you can film a female Banded Demoiselle, whilst a Garden Warbler sings in your ear....Magic!

Other sightings on a circuit of the area including a length of the river, an estimate of Sand Martin probably reached three figures, a Common Sandpiper seen flying upstream, and a Little Egret dropped in. From the footpath, 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, a Garden Warbler, Treecreeper, Dunnock, and 2 Swift over Brookhouse.

Butterflies of note, 14 Orange Tip, 3 Speckled Wood, a Red Admiral, and Peacock. 

Stonechat.

I now have two more breeding records with photographic evidence. 

Stonechat. Howard Stockdale.

Thanks to Howard for his image of the young Stonechat having just been fed the snack of a Red Soldier Beetle.

Stonechats. Ian Mitchell.

Thanks to Ian for his image of an adult Stonechat with young, with evidence there are three breeding pairs at this location in Bowland.